


A Future Realized

by SilverFox89



Series: From Then to Now [29]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, sappy couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5695534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFox89/pseuds/SilverFox89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neji has an important question to ask Shikamaru.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Future Realized

**Author's Note:**

> 30 Day OTP Challenge for the Fluff Impaired Prompt #29: Plans for the future.
> 
> Sappiness ahead people.

Neji sighed as he checked the pocket of his slacks, yet again, his fingers brushing against the item stored there. The Hyūga had kept it hidden for the last four months, unable to find the courage to give it to his lover. He'd talked about it, and what he wanted, extensively with his uncle. Hiashi had eventually - and very surprisingly - rolled his eyes in a gesture that was very unlike him and told Neji to stop dancing around the subject, lest the older male choose to bring the subject up to Shikamaru for him to put an end to all of his nephew's 'nonsense'. That was the last thing Neji wanted, however. This was something he had to do on his own and his uncle's interference would not lend the younger Hyūga any favors(none good, at the very least).

 

Finally, Neji shook his head to disperse his negative thoughts. They would do him no good today, especially since he'd just heard Shikamaru open the front door.

 

"Oh wow! Neji, what the heck did you cook? It smells amazing!" The Nara walked into the kitchen with his eyes closed, obviously taking in the scents with a pleased look. Shikamaru opened his eyes when he heard Neji chuckle and blinked as he noticed that the other man was wearing black slacks and a royal blue, long sleeved dress shirt. "Did I forget something important? 'Cause I swear I didn't mean to. You do look nice though."

 

Neji laughed and shook his head. "Thank you, Shikamaru. No, you haven't forgotten anything. I just decided that I wanted to have a nice dinner with you. We rarely go out for dates so I thought that this would be an acceptable compromise. Though the food isn't ready just yet. You have time for a shower since I'm sure you've worked up a sweat while you were dealing with the deer all day."

 

"No kidding," Shikamaru groused good naturedly. He sighed and stated, "some of them were being really stubborn when it came down to giving them this year's vaccinations. I'll be out in about half an hour, okay?"

 

"That's more than enough time for me to finish up in here," Neji confirmed. He crossed the kitchen to press a kiss to the Nara's lips. "Welcome home."

 

Shikamaru smiled up at the Hyūga and said, "I'm home. Anyway, I should go get that shower before the scent of deer permeates through the house.

 

Neji laughed. "Go on then. I'll be in here waiting."

 

* * *

* * *

 

Shikamaru showered as quickly as he dared before he got out and started to dry himself off. The Nara wrapped that towel around his waist and then tousled his hair with another to get most of the water out of his long, inky black hair. He glanced at the bed as he came out of the bathroom and laughed softly when he saw a pair of black slacks and a dark green, long sleeved dress shirt.  Shikamaru dressed himself, draped his towel over his shoulders to catch any dripping water and then carefully brushed the tangles out of his wet hair. Deeming himself as done as he was going to get the Nara padded quietly back out to the kitchen.

 

"I'm done," Shikamaru murmured softly.

 

Neji turned with a smile. "So you are. Do you want me to dry your hair out a little more for you?"

 

"Please."

 

The Hyūga pulled out a chair for his lover and gestured for Shikamaru to sit down and while the Nara did that Neji opened the freezer and pulled out a chilled bottle of umeshu.

 

Shikamaru tilted his head to one side. "Are you _sure_ I didn't forget an important date?"

 

Neji chuckled. "Yes, Shikamaru, I'm sure. I would have reminded you long before now if I thought a date or event was important enough to need your undivided attention."

 

"Mm, true. I know you wanted to have a nice dinner with me, but normally we plan these things instead of doing something spontaneously because of our random schedules. So what brought this on? Not that I'm complaining or anything. Have to admit that I am curious though."

 

"I wanted to do something nice for you instead of the other way around. Especially since you've been so busy this month, what with the deer having their fawns, the vaccinations needing to be administered, not to mention your work as the Jōnin Commander's aid. There's also the fact that I have a week of leave since the last mission I had was highly ranked," the Hyūga said as he started to dry Shikamaru's hair.

 

"S-Rank?" Shikamaru asked turning his head to eye his lover with worry.

 

"Yes, but - surprisingly enough - nothing went wrong. In fact, it was a quick and clean mission. We got in, did what we needed to do, and got out. The Intel was very accurate. I would have liked to meet that client's informant. He or she was quite attentive to the layout of the building, guard shifts, projected numbers, and the mission objective," Neji stated.

 

"Oh! I remember that now. The Jōnin Commander asked my opinion about that mission to see if it might be a trap. The mission should have been an A-Rank but the client apparently paid way more than an A-Rank was worth. I guess they wanted it done right the first time," Shikamaru said with a shrug.

 

Neji hummed thoughtfully as he finished drying the Nara's hair. It was only mildly damp now and he tossed the towel into their small kitchen hamper as he reached for the hairbrush that Shikamaru still held. The younger man lifted it so that Neji could take it. The Hyūga gently brushed out the other male's hair before setting the brush on a counter. "All done."

 

"Thanks, Neji. Do you want any help setting the table?"

 

"No, but thank you for offering, Shikamaru," Neji said with a soft smile curving his lips. He quickly and efficiently set the table with deft hands and then pulled two small glasses from the upper cupboards. "Do you want ice for the umeshu?"

 

"Mm..., nah. It's been in the freezer for a while so it should stay cold enough for now. We can always add ice later if it gets too warm while we eat."

 

"True enough." Neji set the glasses on their small table. The Hyūga sat down and poured some of the umeshu into one of the glasses for Shikamaru and then handed the bottle over to the Nara so that he could do the same for Neji. The two men lifted their glasses and toasted. "Kanpai."

 

They both took a sip of their drinks and set them aside so that they could serve themselves.

 

"It looks as good as it smells, Neji," Shikamaru complimented.

 

"Thank you."

 

"Itadakimasu," the couple said together.

 

* * *

* * *

 

"You really out did yourself this time, Neji," Shikamaru said with a smile. There was a faint hint of pink dusting the Nara's cheeks from the amount of alcohol he had consumed over the course of the meal.

 

Neji's cheeks were also lightly colored(more obviously than Shikamaru's due to his pale skin) and he smiled at Shikamaru with a slightly besotted look in his eyes. "Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the meal. Would you like some more umeshu?"

 

"No!" Shikamaru laughed warmly. "I think I've had more than enough for tonight! I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning and I don't want to ruin a perfectly good day to spend with you by having a hangover."

 

"Agreed," Neji said. He stood to put away the umeshu so that it would stay chilled and said, "perhaps we can finish the bottle over the next few days."

 

"Sounds like a plan to me," Shikamaru stated as he started to clean up the table. He set his dishes into the sink and turned, only to find Neji close enough to him that he'd nearly run into the other man. He lifted an eyebrow inquiringly, "Neji?"

 

The Hyūga said nothing. Instead he chose to lean in and place his hands on the counter to either side of the Nara. This effectively trapped Shikamaru between his lover and sink. Neji tilted his head down, keeping his eyes on the Nara's. Neji saw when sudden comprehension and interest flared in Shikamaru's dark irises and he shuddered as he watched the Nara's pupils dilate as the slightly smaller male lifted his head to receive the kiss Neji dropped on his lips. Shikamaru tangled one hand in Neji's hair, wrapped the other arm around the Hyūga's waist and hummed in contentment as Neji deepened the kiss. They stayed like that for several long minutes, kissing slowly and breaking it just to return for another kiss.

 

Finally, Neji pulled away to reach into his pocket. He brought out a small, velvet box and gently opened it with a soft click as he lifted it just enough for Shikamaru to be able to see it. He watched the Nara's eyes widen as he took in the silver band that was delicately etched with tiny deer and swirling leaves. Shikamaru's breath hitched as he realized what Neji was doing.

 

"Shikamaru, nothing in this world would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Neji asked softly.

 

Shikamaru could only nod, unable to voice how he felt at the moment. Neji grinned as he slid the ring onto the Nara's ring finger. He hugged the smaller male tightly, "I love you, Nara Shikamaru."

 

Shikamaru made a choked noise and buried his face into Neji's shoulder. He stayed like that for a while before finally saying thickly, "I love you too, Neji. Though I hope you know that Ino and the other women are going to try to kill you for doing this where they couldn't snoop."

 

"They don't know about the ring. I bought the ring outside of Konoha and Oji-sama is the only one whom I told that I was planning to propose to you," Neji murmured.

 

"That's worse," Shikamaru laughed wetly. "They're all so damned determined to get us to act like a 'normal couple' outside of our home. Ino especially!"

 

"Your mother will need help getting the wedding and reception planned out. Ino can be easily diverted by that."

 

"Ha! You really don't know Ino half as well as I do. Better come up with a plan to earn her forgiveness soon. Ino can hold a grudge for a _long_  time."

 

"I will later. For now we should focus on announcing our engagement to your mother and our Clans," Neji said.

 

"The Elders, on both sides, are probably going to want us to have an engagement party. Troublesome," Shikamaru groaned.

 

"And then there's the actual planning for the wedding and reception itself. I was thinking family and close friends for the reception, maybe Kakashi-sama and the other Clan leaders as well. We don't need a large reception after all."

 

"Agreed. We should probably leave the majority of the planning to Kaa-san and other people who know more about this than we do. I also hope you realized that Ino and the others are going to want to drag us out shopping with them for all of the wedding and reception stuff now."

 

"Wonderful," Neji deadpanned.

 

"My thoughts exactly."

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second to last part in this series but that doesn't mean I won't write aa prompt or idea that catches my interest. If you have a prompt or a question for me you can go to my Tumblr page: http://silvershadowfoxuniverse.tumblr.com/ or find me on the app as SilverFox89


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